We Wish You a Christmas Lapbook

During the month of December, homeschool is a bit like public school: it's chaos! We did keep up on Math and Reading, and had a great time reading aloud several Christmas Stories: Twas the Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. ( That one took us a little longer, but was worth it!) We finished off with the account of Christ's birth from the book of Luke.

I'd like to say we all learned a lot, but to be honest, we mostly just had a great time. ;) All the papers the kids worked on have been put together in a lapbook. Here are some pics...

The first yellow one is Brandon's. The red rectangle says "Christmas Around the World" and has "Merry Christmas" written in different languages. The green square is a pocket with Reindeer flashcards, which we used for alphabetizing. The white rectangle is a booklet of the 12 days of Christmas, with their own wish for each day.

The second page has a white paper with Brandon's rendition of Santa Claus. On the inside, it had similes and couplets that he wrote about Santa. The Christmas Tree has vocabulary like "thistle" and "kerchief."

The third page has little matchbook-style flaps with different symbols of Christmas.
The next page has a brad holding tags with some of the names of Jesus, as well as a little gold rectangle with the gifts that were given to Him. The white rectangle opens up to list memories from Christmas past, fun things from this Christmas and expectations for Christmases yet to come.

The navy blue page is a bit hard to see. It has a brown stable and an envelope which holds small pictures of all the people who were in the nativity scene. They can be taken out and set up in the stable as the kids tell the story.

The kids also made a front page for their lapbooks, but they used too much glitter glue. It might be dry enough to scan in February! ;)

Nathan's is similar to Brandon's lapbook. I'll post pics of his next time we do one. We'll also try to get his posted on his own blog soon.

Super Snickerdoodles

This recipe is one of my family's favorites. It is quick and easy, uses basic ingredients and makes a soft, delicious cookie. We actually used this dough to make Christmas shaped sugar-cookies and they were perfect: Not too sticky for rolling and cutting, and wonderfully soft.

Super Snickerdoodles

1/2 cup margarine (1 stick)
3/4 cup sugar
1 medium egg
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-2/3 cups flour
2 tablespoons white sugar mixed with 1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a large bowl mash together the margarine and sugar. Add the egg and beat until everything is creamy. Add the baking powder, salt and flour. Stir it up until you have a nice thick dough. In a cereal bowl, combine the cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Shape the dough into balls the size of a walnut, or an egg yolk. Roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place the coated balls on an oiled cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a smooth cup or glass, press the dough down to flatten the cookies slightly. Bake them at 375° for 10 minutes.

The Twelth Day of Christmas!

Wow! What a day! Christmas was, as always, an exciting, happy, exhausting day at our house. We began our celebration on Christmas Eve at my family's home with a scrumptious dinner, followed by our annual traditions:

The acting out of the nativity (which Nick illustrated on his blog) complete with our newest niece as the Christ child. The kids all had fun and I must say, my husband makes a great donkey! Next, we read a humorous, but sweet Christmas story which was written this year by my dad and his sibs. This was followed by the kids, including my three plus a nephew, singing a few very enthusiastic Christmas songs that they had been working on. My youngest brother and sister also played piano pieces that they've been working on. And as her piano teacher, I just have to say Lori is doing great! She is a much more accomplished pianist than she was a year ago.

After that, we all joined in some Christmas Carols, finishing off the vocalizing with our own version of the Twelve Days of Christmas. N was so kind as to keep track of what we sang for us, so I've included it here. Each person in the room got to pick what we sang for one of the days, and we very loudly and boisterously sang all twelve verses:

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...a Partridge in a pair of underwear (we have Garfield.com and my nine-year-old to thank for that one!)
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...two million gold
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...three baby dolls
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...four christmases
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Five happy kids
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... six level 80's (world of warcraft thing)
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...seven weeks of vacation
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... eight robots with lasers
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... nine extra large pizzas
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... ten Batman movies
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...eleven chocolate kisses
On the twelth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...twelve pounds of candy!

So, now you know the deepest desires of the hearts of my dear family members! ;) To be honest, they're probably the only ones who'll read this anyway! After all the chaotic but cheerful celebrating we had a calm moment when my oldest son was asked to read to us the account of Christ's birth from my great-grandmother's old family bible. That was the point at which I promptly turned into a pile of mush; hearing those beautiful words proclaiming the good tidings of great joy coming from the mouth of my child. He read them well, not stuttering nearly as much as usual and each word was said with feeling. It was one of those "Perfect Mommy Moments" when you realize why you do what you do. And you know it's all worth it.

By the time we had finished our bowls of ice cream and retrieved our coats, boots and mittens from all over the house, and drove past all the joyful Christmas lights on our way home, my kids were actually about ready for bed. (Rare, but wonderful!) Nick and I began our last few projects and were finally in bed by 3 am!

Thankfully, the kids slept in and we enjoyed a few blissful hours of rest until my brother called at 8 am to see when we were coming to open presents. We woke the kids who were thrilled and excited with the gifts they received, from Santa and from us. I have to admit I was a little worried about whether or not they would like the lapdesks I got them, because they are a bit schoolish. But they loved them! They each got one with their name painted on it and a fun design. Nick made pillowcases with pictures of them as video game characters using super-powers to defeat the bad guys, and they were ecstatic!

I was going to add some pics here, but my phone was left at the in-laws, so I'll have to add them later.

I forgot to mention that when we got home on Christmas Eve there was a pile of presents on our doorstep, with no mention who they were from. We also opened these and were all pleased with the nice new clothes (perfectly sized), and new toys for the kids. It was a truly sweet anonymous blessing and very much appreciated.

We then proceeded to do more present-swapping at my family's then at Nick's family's, followed by a supremely tender Prime Rib dinner with all his family. It was a day full of love and kindness and family, everything I think a Christmas Day should be and my heart is full of gratitude for the gift of the Savior and all that He has made possible for us.

Here we go...

Okay, I've been a slacker when it comes to this blog, but I'm going to try and give it another shot. This is the Christmas Letter we sent out this year:

Hi! It's me, N! I am 9 years old and a great artist. I got a new memory card recently, and so I can save my games now. I got my wolf badge in November and My mom says I am the best helper in the paper route. In the summer I beg for popsicles, in the winter it's cocoa. I love sci-fi and my own book of the year award goes to"Star Jumper " by Frank Asch. I have also recently begun to understand Dad's editorial cartoons.
My dad, Nick, has started a new webcomic titled Dadmocracy. He also reads a lot, stuff like politics and church stuff. He also reads some of my books. He works at DMBA (we call it Demba) and Zeponie Pizza. He also does editorial cartoons for the Davis County Clipper and he still hasn't finished his Cooties webcomic.
My mom, Angie, reads a bunch of stuff like mysteries and girly books. She also does a lot of housework. She still substitutes preschool and does homeschool with us. Her baking has improved (I really like the pumpkin mini-muffins).
B loves to play with S; he teaches and takes care of her. He's 6 ½ years old and loves to run. He likes Magnetix and dinosaur toys. He loves to tell jokes and tease people and loves to pounce on me. His art has improved. My favorite drawing of his is a Christmas card he just made.
S loves us to read stories to her. She likes to play with dolls and babies. She also loves to cut things up in our room (we really don't like it). She can write her name, which is pretty neat for a three year old. She likes to play with us and sometimes we let her. She also likes to make up stories like monkeys putting snarls in her hair.
Our whole family celebrated 10 years as a family and had a great PARK CITY VACATION!
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
From the Perkins Family